Former legislator pleads guilty to theft

Former state Representative Fonda Hawthorne, 62, who served one term as a Democrat from Ashdown in 2013-14, has pleaded guilty to stealing money from the Little River Chamber of Commerce, the Texarkana Gazette reports.

She’ll be sentenced May 21. It had previously been reported that she’d been accused of using the chamber’s debit card when she was its director for personal purchases, including at liquor and tobacco stores.